Chancellor, House Ed chair defend proposed EAA expansion

Rep. Lisa Postumus-Lyons says the education system status quo is not working, and children are being left behind.

Credit Flickr - Thomas Favre-Bulle

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Michigan legislators could vote this week on a controversial proposal that would expand the state’s Education Achievement Authority. That’s the state-run district comprised of 15 of the most challenged schools in the state, all in Detroit.

EAA administrators, Gov. Rick Snyder and other supporters say the initiative, now in its second year, is beginning to turn those schools around. They say test scores are rising due to a student-centric teaching model, a longer school year, and grouping students by ability instead of age.

Opponents of the measure, two of whom appeared on yesterday’s program, paint a starkly different picture. They say the EAA is off to a bad start, that it’s not serving students and has serious problems with transparency and demonstrating progress.

While the Super Bowl is big for advertisers, the Olympics are also a coveted time for companies. Current State’s Emanuele Berry spoke with Rajeev Batra, a professor of marketing at the University of Michigan. He is an expert in global branding and advertising and explains what it means to be an Olympic sponsor.

After years of delays, Hantz farm is starting to take shape. In 2009, John Hantz, CEO of Southfield-based Hantz Group LLC proposed building the world’s largest urban farm in Detroit. After cutting through red tape and shifting plans to center on building an urban tree farm, the project is starting to unfold.